Ticker attachment



Dec., 3l, 1929. w. A. zwlcKE y y TICKER ATTACHMENT Filed Juiy 15. 192e 2 sheets-sheet 1v WITNESS v /NVE/vQ/a MMM/11A ZW/ A/E ATTORNEYS Dec. 3l, 1929. y w, A, zwxcKE 1.741,26?

' TICKER ATTACHMENT Filed Jul!! 15, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l?.A

WTTNESS 1N f5/Wok Y. 'BY

A TTORNE Ys Patented Dec. 31, 1929 UNrEn STATES PATEN'E" OFFICE y WILLIAM A. zWroKn, or ozone PARK, New YORK, Assienony ro RICHARD A. avrannronn co., rnc., or New YORK, N. Y., A conronarronor new YORK TICKER ATTACHBIENT Application inea Tv-.1y is,

This invention relates to 'el ctrical tickers, and more particularly to an attachment for such tickers which will support a length of ticker tape as it emerges or issues from the ticker and which will magnify the printing on the tape so that it will be clearly visible and readable to an observer.

An object of thel invention is to provide an attachment ofl the aforesaid character which will be simple in construction, which will be easy to manufacture, which will be tree from mechanical and electrical mechanisms, and which will be attractive in appearance. y

Another object of the invention is to provide a ticker magnilier which can be handled and sold as a separate unit, which can be attached directly to any ticker without having to make any alterations whatever, and which can be clearly and comfortably viewed by a group of people.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l shows a plan view of an embodiment of invention with parts broken away for the purposes oit' clarity;

Fig. 2 illustrates an elevational view of a ticker with an embodiment of my invention attached thereto;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 depicts an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 4, but taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 shows a plan view of my ticker magniiier with a piece ot ticker tape therein and with parts broken away for purposes of clarity.

The reference character 1 designates the body member or casing of my new attachment which has a substantially Ushaped cross section as may be clearly seen from Fig. 4. The body may be made of any appropriate material as one skilled in the art will readily understand but it is herein depicted as being made of wood. In the bottom of the inside ot the U-shaped body a tape-caryying portion or member 2 is provided which is shown triction lubricant, such as a mixture ot' finely ground 'talcum and mica powder. By rubn bing this'powder into the wood a surface is obtained which is slippery and which oiiers practically no resistance to the passage of ticker tape. y

Seated above the tape-carrying` member is a strip of relatively thin plain glass 3 which is transparent andl tree from o tical detects.

This strip of glass makes a frictional tit with a seat 4 which isformed on each side of the U above the tape-carrying portion. lVith this construction the ticker tape is positively confined to the tapecarrying member and is causedto iiow or pass through the attachment in a smooth manner. In assembling my attachment the strip ot glass Sis, of course, inserted therein by sliding the strip from one end into the slide-way formed bythe two seats. The iit between the seats and the strip of glass is preferably made snug so that friction will hold the glass in place without the necessity ot using cement, putty or the like. Any appropriate bonding agent may be used, if desired, to fix the glass in position.

At an appropriate distance above the tapecarrying member a magnifying glass 5 ot suitable power is located. This glass like the plain glass 3 is herein shown as being y supported in grooved seats 6 formed in the sides 7 of the U-shaped body 1, although any other appropriate means of supporting glass 5 may be employed. The magnifying power of glass 5 may, of course, vary, but I have obtained satisfactory results by usinga glass which, when supported at about two inches above the ticker tape, will give a magnification of approximately two to three diameters, i. e. the printing on the tape will appear as it it is about two to three times its actual size (see Fig. 6).

When a table, desk, counter or the like, at which the readers oit the ticker tape sit, is

employed in conjunction with the ticker, I prefer to shape the bottom of the U-shaped body so that it can be placed upon the top of the table, etc. The ticker tape is first threaded through the tape-carrying member and thereafter it passes automatically through my new attachment under the impulses received from the ticker. The person sitting at or standing by the table can easily read the printing onv the tape with the ,greatest facility and without the least effort or difiiculty'7 thus relieving the person of all the strain usually attendant with holding the ticker tape and reading the line print thereon.

I have found that improved re-sults can be vobtained by vproviding a 4base block 8 of special construction for supporting the body member 1. The base block 8 has a fiat bottom 9 of sufficient width `to give adequate stability to the entire structure. The top of the base block is hollowed out to form a concave seat 10 which is adapted 7to hold the U-shaped body member 1 securely in place. It is preferable to have the bottom 11 of the U-sliaped body member formed to a shape which conforms to that of the concave seat 10. In practice I lprefer to make the curvature of the bottom 11 and of the concave seat 10 that of a circle. By giving the aforesaid parts a circular curve, the body member fits snugly and vsecurely in the base block and, at the same time, is capable of being tilted Ato one side or the other through any angle desired: by the reader.

vIn this way a person can easily adjust the body member of my new attachment to a position in which the person can readily read the ticker tape without having to change his own posture or without having to subject himself to any discomfort whatever. Y

TWhen a base block of the type hereinabove describe-d is used, an anchoring arrangement is preferably incorporated in my attachment unite the body member to the base block in a positive manner. The anchoring arrangement or means consists of a metal strip 12 which is countersunk and fastened by means of a plurality of screws 13 in a depression 14 that is located above a clearance hole 15 in the base block 8. This hole may be made at any appropriateposition in the upper surface of the base block but, as herein illustrated, a middle position is preferred. The metal strip has a central slot 16 through which fastening means, such as screw 17, projects. This screw is inserted into slots 16 through hole 18 which extends from clearance hole 15 to the bottom 9 of the base block and is screwed'into the wood of the body member as shown in F ig. 4. It will be observed that vthe head of screw 17 cannot pass through the slot 16, and, consequently, the screw serves as an anchor to hold the body in an adjustable relation to the base block. Slot 16 is made sufficiently wide, so as to provide a clearance on each side of the stem of the screw and to permit movements of the body member with relation to the base block for purposes of adjustment.

In cases where lthe ticker is use-d by itself and without a table or the like, I provide fastening means which is secured directly cto the ticker for supporting my new attachment. The fastening means herein illustrated is a bracket denoted generally by the numeral 20.

or the supporting member with the ticker.

magnifierl can be rotatedthrough any suitable angle to give Aa desired slopeto the magnifier by opening the thumb screw, making the desired adjustment and then fastening the thumb screw to hold the parts securely in place. In this manner my ticker magnifier can be adjusted so as to fit any ticker .even though it maybe different from the standard ticker.

In cases where the inlet end 32 of the magnifier cannot be placed close enough to the tape outlet 33 ofthe ticker, I provide a guide 34 to bridge the gap between the inlet end 32 and the tape outlet 33 as shown in Fig. v2. The guide 34 may be formed of a piece of metal having its sides bent to form aslot in to which the ltape can easily be placed and through which the tape can easily pass, and having one end bent tov form a flange 35 which can be fastened to the end of the mag nifier in any customary way. By placing the guide between the tape outlet and theinlet end of the magnifier the .tape is prevented from sagging and forming a vloop which will not pass into the magnifier.

In preferred embodiments of the ticker magnifier such as shown, a plate 27 is fastened to each end of the magnifier by vany suitable means such as screws 28 or the like. Each plate is closed with the exception of a rectangular hole 29 provided for the ,passage of the ticker tape so Athat the glasses are held in their respective seats and the interior of the magnifier is kept substantially free from dust, foreign matter, etc. In some instances, where it is desired to have quick access to the interior of the ticker magnifier one of the screws can act as a pivot while the other one is replaced with a thumb screw and slot arrangement, as one skilled in :the art will readily understand.

The operation of my new ticker 1nagllifier is, of course, obvious, but it will sufiice to state that the ticker tape as it comes from the ticker is threaded into guide 34 and into slot 29 in the plate adjacent to the guide. After the ticker tape emerges from the ticker it passes through the ticker-carrying member of my magnifier under the influence of the ticker propulsion until it issues from the discharge end 31 of the ticker magnifier. The discharged tape falls into the usual tape basket (not shown) and accumulates therein. Readers of the ticker tape can stand at eitherl side of my magnifier and-can read the magnified printing on the tape as it passes through the magnifier without the least dii'iculty or strain on their eyes. W'hen a magnfier having a length of 18 inches is used a reader can see, for example, the quotations of about twenty stocks, whereas if the reader held the'tape in his hands in the usual manner he could only see about six. IV ith the old method only one person or so could comfortably read the ticker tape at the same time while with my new magnifier a group of persons, say eight or ten, can comfortably and easily read the tape at the same time. Of course, when one of my magnifiers, having a length of say four or five feet, is used on a long table, many more persons than eight or ten can read the moving tape. n

It will be observed that further modification of the embodiment herein illustrated and described is within the purview of this invention. For example, the sides of the U- shaped body member may be extended upwardly and another magnifying glass may be located above the magnifying glass shown so as to magnify the printing on the tape still further. In another case the magnifying glass may be positioned with its cur'- vature running with the length of the magnifier instead of transverse thereto as shown. When the magnifying glass is so positioned it is preferred to use a plurality of short pieces, say several inches long, to fill the entire length of the magnifier. In other instances I may make the body member and base block from a piece of metal rolled with the tape-carrying member and the glass seats therein. Various other modifications in detailed arrangement of parts of embodiments of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

l. A ticker magnifier comprising an elongated U-shaped body member having a bottom with a curvature approximating that of a part of a cylinder, a base block having a concave top curved to tit the cylindrical bottom of the body member and adapted to support said body member in a tiltable manner, a tape-carrying member formed in lthe inside of said U-shaped body member and extending from end to end thereof, a strip of plain glass seated 1n a slot over said tape-carrying member, and magnifying means mounted adjacent to the open end of said U-shaped body member for magnifying ticker tape located in said tape-carrying member.

2. A ticker magnifier comprising an elongated U-shaped body member having a bottom with a curvature approximating that of a part of a cylinder, a base block having a concave top curved to fit the cylindrical bottom of the body member and adapted to support said body member in a tiltable manner, anchoring means interposed between the concave top of said base block and the curved bottom of said body member for adjustably uniting said body member in said base block, a tape-carrying member formed in the inside of said U-shaped body member and extending from end to end thereof, a strip of plain glass seated in a slot over said tape-carrying member, and magnifying means mounted adjacent to open end of said U-shaped body member for magnifying ticker tape located in said tape-carrying member.

3. The combination of a ticker with a ticker magnifier consisting of an elongated U-shaped body member made of wood, a tape-carrying member incorporated within the said U- shaped body member for carrying ticker tape and extending from end to end thereof, the exposed surfaces of said tape-carrying member being treated with an anti-friction lubricant of powdered talcum and mica, a strip of plain glass mount-ed over said tape-carrying member for defining confined ticker tape-carrying space, means supported by the sides of the U- shaped body member over the said plain glass for magnifying the ticker tape located in the said ticker-tape carrying member, means for supporting said body member from a side of said ticker, and a guide secured to the end of the body member adjacent to the ticker for guiding the ticker tape from the tape outlet of the ticker to the tape-carrying member of the ticker mag-` nifier.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM A. ZWICKE.

magnifying 

